No. 72 Liberty Sweeps No. 70 UNF 7-0 in Pivotal ASUN Match

No. 72 Liberty swept No. 70 North Florida 7-0 in a pivotal ASUN Conference match, Thursday afternoon at the Liberty Tennis Complex.

Liberty (9-10) improves to 5-2 in the ASUN and has won its last five league matches after starting the year 0-2. The victory is also the Flames' first ranked triumph of 2022. Meanwhile, UNF (14-7) drops to 5-2 in the ASUN and sees a four-match winning streak ended.

Liberty movies into third place in the ASUN standings with one regular season match left, behind FGCU (6-1) and Kennesaw State (6-1).

The Flames excelled in several close matches on Thursday. A total of five singles sets went to tiebreakers at 6-all, and two matches (No. 3 and No. 5) needed a third set 10-point tiebreaker to determine a winner. Liberty won the tiebreaker in all but one of those situations on the way to the sweep.

Thoughts From Head Coach Derek Schwandt

"We were excited to compete today and trust our training. Thanks to all the great Liberty supporters who came out today."

#72 Liberty 7, #70 North Florida 0

 Singles Competition

1. Josh Wilson (LIBERTYM) def. Jonas Hartenstein (UNF) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
2. Nicaise Muamba (LIBERTYM) def. Nilo Duarte (UNF) 6-3, 6-4
3. R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) def. Matt Carroll (UNF) 6-4, 6-7 (9-11), 1-0 (10-7)
4. Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) def. #68 Dominik Barton (UNF) 6-2, 7-6 (9-7)
5. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) def. PJ Kotan (UNF) 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0 (10-5)
6. Zion Heaven (LIBERTYM) def. Bruno Vietri (UNF) 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)

Doubles Competition

1. Nicaise Muamba/R. Marques Da Silva (LIBERTYM) def. Jorge Nunez/Jonas Hartenstein (UNF) 6-4
2. Rodrigo Crespo/Nilo Duarte (UNF) def. Omar El Kadi/Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) 6-3
3. Josh Wilson/Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) def. Dominik Barton/Matt Carroll (UNF) 6-4

Liberty 9-10, 5-2 ASUN; National ranking #72

North Florida 14-7, 5-2 ASUN; National ranking #70

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,1,4,6,5,3)

Official: R Sanders/S Lunsford T-3:02

How It Happened

• The Flames won the doubles point and all six singles matches, four in straight sets.

• UNF's No. 2 doubles team, Rodrigo Crespo and Nilo Duarte, were tied 3-3 with the Flames' Omar El Kadi and Thando Longwe-Smit before pulling away for a 6-3 decision.

• Liberty countered with a 6-4 victory from Josh Wilson and Christiaan Worst in the No. 3 doubles slot against the pairing of Dominik Barton and Matt Carroll. Wilson and Worst improve to 5-1 in doubles since joining forces

• The Flames secured the doubles point with a 6-4 win from its top pairing, Nicaise Muamba and Rafael Marques Da Silva, over Jorge Nunez and Jonas Hartenstein. Muamba and Marques Da Silva are 5-2 in the No. 1 position this spring and pace the team with eight doubles victories.

• After the doubles win, Muamba topped Duarte 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 2 singles match. A court over on court one, the Flames' Wilson defeated Hartenstein 6-2, 7-6 (6) for a 3-0 Flames lead. Wilson led 5-3 in the second set, and Hartenstein won the next three games to go ahead 6-5. The Liberty junior forced a tiebreaker, which he won 8-6.

• Wilson improves to 5-1 in the No. 1 slot, 11-5 in spring singles contests and 26-10 overall during the 2021-22 campaign. Wilson's 26 wins are tied for third most in a season in program history, matching Muamba's 26 victories from 2019.

• Liberty's Worst (No. 4 singles) continued his strong play, this time picking up his first ranked win as a Flame to secure a 4-0 lead for the hosts and clinch the victory. Worst battled past No. 68 Barton 6-2, 7-6 (7) for his seventh straight win. The Pretoria, South Africa native leads all Flames with 13 singles wins, this spring. Worst's triumph was his 20th overall between fall and spring competition.

• Heaven (No. 6 singles) grinded out a 7-5, 7-6 (6) win of his own versus UNF's Vietri on court six for a 5-0 home advantage. Liberty's Longwe-Smit overcame a one-set deficit on the way to a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (10-5) triumph versus his counterpart, PJ Kotan of the Ospreys.

• The seventh and final point of the evening, which came shortly after 6 p.m., was from Marques Da Silva, a 6-4, 6-7 (9), 1-0 (10-7) victory over Carroll in the No. 3 singles match. Marques Da Silva claimed four of the final five points in the super tiebreaker to pick up the win.

• Every UNF singles player who competed today entered the match having won at least his previous contest prior to the winless singles session. The longest winning streak the Flames snapped was Hartenstein's five-match streak at No. 1 singles.

• This is the Flames' second 7-0 sweep of the season. Liberty also shut out William & Mary in its home opener, Jan. 26 at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center.

• Liberty improves to 2-1 all-time versus UNF, with both victories coming at home. This is the first time a Flames-Ospreys match was not decided by a 4-3 score. The two squads split a pair of meetings in 2019 in Liberty's first year in the ASUN.

Next Up

• Liberty will take on Stetson (11-8, 4-3 ASUN) in its regular season finale, Saturday. First serve is 3 p.m. at the Liberty Tennis Complex. Saturday is Senior Day for the Liberty men's tennis program. The Flames will honor  their lone senior, Nicaise Muamba, prior to the match.

• The Flames are 1-1 all-time against the Stetson Hatters. Liberty bested Stetson 5-2 in 2019 at home. The Hatters won the inaugural meeting in 1995 by a 5-0 count.